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Post by daehahn on May 28, 2015 23:10:25 GMT -5
Hello, I was wondering how many rigger pouches a normal paratrooper would carry. Since ATF is selling rigger pouches, I wanted to get a pistol belt with rigger pouches, but I wanted to know how many I needed. Through photo evidence I've seen many carried about 3-4, but I am not sure. Any advice would be great. Thanks in advance!
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on May 29, 2015 10:25:17 GMT -5
Four would be about right as once loaded with ammo they were quite heavy and a paratrooper would want his belt balanced. There was no hard and fast rule here although the idea is to jump with as much ammo as you could reasonably lug around.
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Post by daehahn on May 29, 2015 13:17:32 GMT -5
Also, what color would be correct for a Bastogne impression? The normal khaki ones or the transitional od#7s?
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Post by patrickl29th on May 29, 2015 14:15:50 GMT -5
With U.S. field gear lots of people would say khaki, but od was a more popular. You shouldn't care about the color of your field gear, mix it up
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on May 29, 2015 15:31:45 GMT -5
Rigger pouches were customized and typically created from available material prior to a campaign. For D-Day and prior jumps Khaki would be the likely color. For Market Garden and especially the Rhine Jumps, OD would have become more commonplace. Keep in mind field webbng was quite durable and those surviving into the later stages of the war would most likely hang onto what they had and were used to. With that said the OD jackets and web gear were seen as more effective camouflage than Khaki in Western Europe so it was popularly snapped up. For Late war a mix and match is probably the most authentic. Khaki remains the most popular by reenactors as it can serve correctly throughout the war.
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Post by aldrich on May 29, 2015 18:17:36 GMT -5
I am by no means an expert on rigger pouches, but I have heard that they were primarily a Normandy thing. Because they had so much more time to prepare for d-day, they had time to make such things. Therefore with market garden being so sudden, and with the airborne being immediately thrust into the bulge, standard field gear was much more common. If you like rigger pouches, I would go for more of a "Normandy" impression.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on May 29, 2015 22:45:21 GMT -5
Aldrich makes a good point. With the recognition that khaki was a bit too light for Northern Europe front line soldiers sometimes dabbled the canvas with black or OD paint. This was done by both the 101st and the 82nd AB but was more common within the 82nd.
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